Inspired by my Twitter find yesterday, I decided to poke around Google+ and Twitter for insights into tonight’s GOP debate. Instead, I found myself tracking claims about Newt Gingrich. Here we go, factoids to show and tell:

1993: “‘The vast lion’s share of balancing the budget was done with the budget in 1993 that [Gingrich] led the opposition to,’ Clinton said Tuesday on NBC.” (CNN)

1994-1998: Earmark spending in Congress doubled between 1994 and 1998, when Gingrich left Congress. “In 1994, Congress inserted 1,318 earmarks into federal spending bills, costing taxpayers $7.8 billion… By 1998, Gingrich’s last year as speaker, the total number of projects reached 2,143 at a cost of $13.2 billion. ‘Speaker Gingrich set in motion the largest explosion of earmarks in the history of Congress,’ said Tom Schatz of Citizens Against Government Waste.” (ABC)

1997: Newt Gingrich, while Speaker of the House, was fined more than $300,000 (395 to 28 vote) for ethics violations, “the first time in the House’s 208-year history it has disciplined a speaker for ethical wrongdoing… Gingrich admitted that he brought discredit to the House and broke its rules by failing to ensure that financing for two projects would not violate federal tax law and by giving the House ethics committee false information.” via +Robert Moran